Salmon Arm’s water treatment plant in Canoe is getting an upgrade.
City staff reported to council on March 14 that the ultra violet disinfection process is accomplished through two Trojan UV Reactors. The UV units have been operating since the plant went online in May 2009, 13 years ago.
A staff report explained the plant treats raw water from Shuswap Lake to meet requirements of the Drinking Water Protection Act. It uses a direct filtration process followed by ultra-violet and chlorine disinfection prior to distributing water for consumption.
Staff reported the system controller center uses PLCs (programmable logic controllers) that are now obsolete and require upgrading. PLC functions include monitoring, control and communications to share data over networks.
Staff said the replacements are necessary to ensure the UV disinfection process continues to meet regulations.
Along with the new PLCs, programming of the software upgrades will be necessary. The total price with materials, programming and testing comes to approximately $23,000. Included in the cost is an estimated air fare of $1,000 to fly in a programmer to the plant to conduct the installation and programming.
A budget of $25,000 was already approved in the 2022 city budget for the upgrade. Council voted unanimously to approve the expenditure.
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martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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